Monday, November 28, 2016

Gene Kiniski 4 decades on top

Other than Whipper Watson I can't think of another wrestler besides Gene Kiniski who appeared in main events in Toronto in 4 different decades.

Thesz came close with 40's 50s 60s but the last main he appeared in was Sept 1969 just missing the cut for the 70s

Whipper managed 40s 50s 60s 70s , and Kiniski managed 50s 60s 70s and 80s. In addition to the main events in 4 decades Kiniski would make the top 20 for most Toronto appearances of all-time.

Amazingly even when we saw him in the late 70's and into the early 80s he could still go with the best of them. By that time his son Kelly was wrestling alongside. Gene was even a big part of the scene late in his career.

He lost to Dino Bravo to kick off the new Canadian Heavyweight Title in 1978. That night was billed as Whipper Watson Appreciation and they brought out Whipper to present the new belt to Bravo. He and Kiniski would get into a scuffle reliving their long feud that had begun back in 1957.

His 1982 run against Angelo Mosca was one of the better matchups of the era and Kiniski would earn mains around the circuit as well.